Largest Mersenne Prime

Date: 19 Jan 1995 19:44:16 -0500
From: Dr. Ken
Subject: Re: Largest Mersenne Prime
Hello there!
According to my sources, the largest known Mersenne Prime is
2^216091 - 1. It is also the largest known prime of any kind.
You sound like you already know some stuff about Mersenne primes,
so I won't elaborate.
-Ken "Dr." Math

Date: 20 Jan 1995 12:29:55 -0500
From: Al Voss
Subject: Re: Largest Mersenne Prime
Thanks for your prompt reply. I have now found from another
source that the latest Mersenne Prime known is 2^859433, which is
the 33rd. However the discovery date is in question, being either
in 1993 or 1994. Do you have a way to check on the proper date?
I appreciate your help and think that the Dr. Math idea is a good
one!
Al

Date: 6/21/96 at 1:49:56
From: Jeff Woods
Subject: Footnote to Largest Marsenne Prime Discovery
Check out
http://www.mersenne.org/
This page has MANY links, including one to Chris's definitive list
of the top primes, when and by whom they were discovered, etc.
There is a a comprehensive distributed Pentium challenge under way
to locate an even larger one than Slowinski's January 1994
discovery of M859433, which is not necessarily the 33rd one
overall, just the 33rd one found. The range between M216091 and
M859433 has not been exhaustively searched yet, though it is known
that M216091 is indeed the 31st Marsenne prime.
Perhaps soon we'll be able to say for sure if M859433 is indeed
the 33rd Marsenne prime.
For more on prime numbers, see the Dr. Math FAQ at
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/